Political Quotes

“I thank Ranking Member Thornberry and Chairman Smith. I say a special thank you to Mr. Thornberry and his staff. They have been great partners in this journey of addressing PFAS in the NDAA. First and foremost, I am pleased that we have reached a deal on the funding of our Armed Services. Ensuring appropriate and sufficient resources for our men and women who serve on the frontline every day should be our top priority. Having said that, I am disappointed about two provisions that did not get in. One would have required EPA to set a national drinking water standard on PFOA and PFOS within 2 years. And the second one would have instituted a mandate on DOD to clean up immediately any DOD sites contaminated with PFOA or PFOS. Republican Members supported these two provisions as part of a larger package, and I think not including them amounts to a very great lost opportunity. Nonetheless, I support the NDAA and PFAS provisions that we were able to get into the bill. Those provisions include: Mr. Upton's Federal facilities and cooperative agreements; Funding for reducing PFAS and rural economically disadvantaged drinking water systems; Health data collection from PFAS manufacturers under TSCA; Guidance on proper disposal of PFAS chemicals; More reporting on PFAS chemicals on the Toxic Release Inventory; and Funding for further research into PFAS chemicals.…”